Controlling device for elevators



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented July V2, 1889.

W. E. NIOKERSON. CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

(No Model.)

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Wwplrzssas (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. E. NICKERSON.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

No. 406,296. Patented July 2, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

lVILLlAM E. NIGKERSON, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,296, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed March 25, 1889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM EMERY NICK- ERSON, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Actuating Devices for Elevator-Controlling Mechanism, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention pertains to elevators such as are used in buildings for carrying goods and persons from one floor to another, and has for its object the material lessening of the labor of the attendant in manipulating the hand or controlling rope, and also the providing of means for stopping semi-automatically and with exactness at any landing.

It consists of a device by which power derived from the movement of the carriage is stored or accumulated for the purpose of actuating the hand-rope and consequently the valve or belt shipper, as the case may be, in starting the elevator, and of a device for causing the movement of the carriage to directly actuate the hand-rope in stopping the elevator accurately at the different floors, all at the will of the attendant.

My device is described and illustrated in the accompanying specification and drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of such parts of an elevator as are necessary for illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged View in vertical section of the hand-rope, tube, and stop device. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line a: a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken 011 the line y 1 of Fig. 2. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are enlarged views of the power-accu mulatin g device, showing the different positions it assumes in performing its work. Fig. 9 is a View, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of the power-accumulating device.

I will now give a general description of the parts shown in the accompanying drawings.

A, Fig. 1, represents an elevator-carriage, B the well-room, and D the hoisting-rope. The rope D is fastened to the carriage at d, and after passing over the pulleys D D and under the pulley D is firmly attached at (Z. The

Serial No. 304,699- (No model.)

buttons 0 c c c 0 corresponding to the various floors b h b b b The highestof these 0 and the lowest 0 are la1g r than the intermediate ones, for reasons that will appear hereinafter. This rope C passes through the carriage A and through the tube T, located within the carriage, an d then over the pulley o and under the pulley c, to which its ends are fastened.

O is a rope for transmitting the motion of the pulley c (on the same shaft as c) to the pulley 0 which, through the pinion c and rack piston-rod 0 actuates the controllingvalve located within the part c.

Attached to the tube T in the carriage A is a hand-lever H, Figs. 1 and 2, pivoted at h,

and having a joint-ed connection at 7b with a stop-slide S. This stop-slide S is a forkedshaped piece, (shown more fully in Fig. 3,) the prongs of which, near the ends, are far enough apart to allow the buttons 0' o to pass between them, but near their bases, while separated enough to admit the rope O to pass between them, are too close together to admit of the passage of the buttons 0 0 as shown in Fig. 3. When the slide S is pushed by means of the'hand-lever H well into the tube T, then the buttons on the hand-rope C cannot pass it, but when drawn well out by the same means, so that the wide space between the prongs is brought into position, the buttons can pass it.

L and L, Figs. 1 and 2, are two forked sliding pieces, shaped as shown in Fig. 4, and

located in the tube T, L being above the slide S and L below it. They are normally drawn well out to allow the buttons 0' c to pass, but may be pushed in by the operator when it is desired to secure one of the buttons between either of them and the slide S, and thus lock the elevator.

E, Figs. 1, 5, 6, '7, 8, and 9, is a segmentshaped piece, its straight sides being at an angle of about ninety degrees with each other and is attached rigidly to the same shaft .T as the pulleys 0 0 It has secured to it on its arc-shaped side, but held a short distance from it by bosses at each end, an arc-shaped piece I.

lV is a weight attached to an arm R. The arm R passes through and is free to oscillate in the space or slit between the are-shaped side of the segment-piece E and the part I, its oscillation relative to the segment-piece being limited by the buttress-pieces on which the piece I rests. The inner end of the arm R is loosely attached to the shaft J, above which it is free to swing through an are of about ninety degrees within the segment-piece E, being limited in this respect only by the buttress-pieces e The normal position of the segment-piece E, when the elevatorcarriage is at rest, is that shown in Figs. 1, 5, and 7. hen the carriage is in motion, going up, it is that shown in Fig. 8. \Vhen the earriage is in motion, going down, itis that shown in Fig. 6.

The operation of my device is as follows: Suppose the carriage to be in motion upward, with the stop-slide S well out of the tube T to allow the passage of the buttons 0 c. The segment-piece and weight \V will now be in the position shown in Fig. 8, and the rack piston-rod 0 will be drawn up and the controlling-valve open. If, now, it is desired to stop at any floor, the attendant just before reaching the floor will by the hand-lever 11 force the stop-slide S well into the tube T. The car will now continue to ascend until the button on the hand-rope corresponding to the floor at which the carriage will stop engages with the stop-slide S and rests upon it. (See Fig. 2.) Then the upward movement of the car will draw up the hand-rope and bring the segment-piece E, arm R, and weight \V into the position shown in Fig. 7, at the same time depressing the rack piston-rod c through the pinion a, pulley c and rope C, closing the valve and stopping the carriage. This act of using the motion of the carriage to draw the hand-rope for the purpose of stopping the carriage is not new, and is not claimed as a part of my invention. The carriage A, hand-lever ll, stop-slide S, segment E, weight \V, and rack piston-rod c will now stand in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 7. It will be observed that in this position the weight \V tends by its gravity to descend from its present position (to which it has been raised by the upward movement of the car through the action of the button a and stop-slide S) and again occupy that shown in Fig. 8, but is restrained from doing so by the action of the button 0 and slide S. Suppose, now, that it is desired to start the carriage upward again. Then the attendant, by the hand-lever ll,

pulls the stop-slide S well out of the tube T, thus disengaging the button 0 As soon as the button 0 is disengaged, restraint being removed, the weight \V will descend to the position shown in Fig. 8, opening the valve and starting the carriage upward again. It will be readily seen that the movement of the carriage furnished not only thepower to close the valve in stopping, but at the same time accumulated the power by raising the weight W (from the position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 6) to open it again and start the carriage when restraint was removed.

In the upward movement of the carriage the foregoing action pertains to all the floors beginning with the second until the top landing is reached. As the car should go no higher than this floor, the large button c' engages with the top of the tube T or with a tube in the top of the carriage, and being too wide to enter draws up the hand-rope O, stopping the carriage and effectually preventing its going any higher. Vhen the highest point is reached and the car has stopped, the segment E, arm R, and weight \V will be in the position shown in Fig. '7. To start the car down, the attendant pulls upon the hand-rope until he has raised the segment E, arm R, and weight \V to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7. lVhen the weight has reached this position, it is ready to fall by gravity, carrying the segment E with it to the position shown. in Fig. 6, opening the valve in the direction to allow the escape of the water from the working side of the piston, and the carriage descends. The attendant then pulls out the slide S. If it is desired while descending to stop at an intermediate floor, the slide S is forced in just before reaching a landing, and on engaging the corresponding button presses down upon it, drawing down the hand-rope and bringing the segment E, arm R, and weight 7 into the position shown in. Fig. 5, at the same time shutting the valve and stopping the carriage. To continue the descent, the slide S is drawn out, when the weight \V will carry the segment E to the position shown in Fig. 6, and the carriage again do seends; and so on for each floor. At the bottom of the well the conditions of the top are reversed. The large button 0, through the rope 0, draws the segment and weight to the position shown in Fig. 5, and as the carriage can now go no lower the next movement must be to ascend, which is accomplished by pulling down on the hand-rope until. the segment E and weight 7 are brought to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, when the weight will fall, and carry with it the segment E to the position shown in Fig. 9, and the valve is open for the ascent of the carriage, and the round of movements is completed.

It will he observed that the only considera ble amount of strength which the attendant is required to exert is that which he uses in. raising the weight N from an inclined posi tion of about forty-five degrees to a perpendicular, which it is necessary to do in reversing the movement of the carriage, the motion of the carriage itself performing all the remainder of the work, except the in ere manipulation of the hand-lever H.

I claim 1. In an elevator, the combination of an elevator-carriage, a hand-rope, a hand-ropeengaging device controlled by the operator, a controlling-valve, a mechanism for transmitting the motion of the hand-rope to the said controlling-valve, and a swinging weight adapted to be raised by the motion of the elevator-carriage to a position from which in dropping it will open said controlling-valve, snbstantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

WVILLIAM E. NICKERSON.

Witnesses: FRANK G. PARKER, WILLIAM EDSON. 

